awards

It has the Red Ribbon Media Awards logo in the upper right corner of the envelope so I knew it was about the RRMA Media Awards [sixthseal.com], where I was nominated for the Main Award Winner for the Non-Traditional Category – Blogs category.

There was a card inside with a see through window cut into the cardboard with the words “Thank You Luncheon”.

Here’s a closer look at the invitation. It’s for a Thank You
Luncheon at the Pacifica Grill and Bar at Mandarin Oriental, KL at
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm this Saturday (2nd October 2004). It’s an invitation
for two – it goes “Poh Huai Bin & partner”, and although I would
very much like to go, I won’t be able to make it, so I emailed back to
tell MAC so.

I work on Saturdays so I’ll have to take leave if I were to go and I
already applied for leave later in October. I appreciate the gesture
though and I’ll like to say a big Thank You for Ely Azyze for
everything that she’s done for me. Thanks! :)

The Red Ribbon Gala Dinner is a charity dinner where the Red Ribbon
Media Award winners get their prizes. I was fortunate enough to be part
of this – RRMA is a biannual award and this year, it was
DaimlerChrysler who sponsored the event.

The Red Ribbon Gala Dinner is a very formal event organized by the
Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF) and the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC).
It’s a very expensive dinner – thousands of dollars per head, as this
is a charity dinner to raise funds for the Malaysian AIDS Council.

I liaised with my primary contact at MAC – Ely Azyze, who was kind
enough to arrange everything from the air tickets to KL and the stay at
Mandarin Oriental to smooth what was a very short notification of my
winning entry due to my tardiness in checking my email. I didn’t know I
won coz I didn’t even enter the contest.

The evening started off earlier for the award winners – I didn’t
manage to attend the morning rehearsals so I was very quickly briefed
about where to stand on the stage and who to shake hands with. I still
remember my spot – second duct tape marker on stage, and the order with
whom I was supposed to shake hands with…it was Dr. Mahathir first,
followed by Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir and the DaimlerChrysler
president.

I got my red ribbon and handed over my invitation and signed in the guestbook…

The pre-public evening started with some rehearsals from the
speakers and I could see the table attendants from Mandarin Oriental
setting up the tables. The motif of every table was different, each has
a set piece on it to be auctioned off at the end of the gala and the
table decorations go with the motif.

I was interviewed by an Astro Ria anchor and unfortunately, I didn’t
think I managed to get my message across due to my lack of sobriety
coupled with being slightly uncomfortable with a microphone in front of
me and a camera man standing smack dab beside me pointing the business
end of the video camera at me.

The evening started off with a cocktail reception at 6:30. There was
wine, beer, non-alcoholic beverages as well as hors de ours (sp?).

I had several glasses of red wine and I met Meesh, who won the Special Mention in the Non-Traditional Awards – Blogs category.

L-R: Chris, Huai Bin (me), Meesh

I also met a really nice guy called Chris, who sat at the same table
as me (he won an award as well). I think he got the broadcast media
award. He’s really friendly and was the life of the table. :) I talked
with Meesh at the staircase and we were not quite sober and took photos
of each other:

Meesh.

Me.

The dinner started after that. I was at Table 11 – the winners are
divided into two tables, Table 11 and Table 66. My table had Audrey,
the winner from The Star (Print Media), Chris and some other MAC staff.

There is a gift pack from MAC (Malaysian AIDS Council, not the
cosmetics label) on every chair. It seems that they arranged it so that
there are alternate male and female oriented packs so some swapping
took place.

This is what it contains. Mine was the right one, since I sat
between two females, so my MAC pack was a male pack, so to speak. The
female version has lipstick, foundation and some other stuff.

This is Shazlina from MAC and me. Ely was also sitting at the same table, as was a journalist from the Malay Mail.

This is another winner of an award from Oriental Daily or Daily
Oriental, she’s an ex-journalist and seemed as inebriated as I was. ;)

The Red Ribbon Media Awards goes after the Red Ribbon Gala Dinner,
so I was admittedly not quite sober by the end of the night, due to the
free flow wine, which I took advantage of. Every dish was paired with a
wine and the dishes are specially prepared by “Asian Master Chefs”. It
sure was different and interesting.

There were several varieties of bread and liberal amounts of butter
to soak up the liquor, er…I mean to start things off. It was alright.
It’s bread.

This is the starter, which I absolutely loved. The martini glass
contains chicken bits hidden in shaved ice. It was like nothing I ever
had experienced. Divine. This appetizer was paired with Jacob’s Creek
Chardonnay Pinot Noir.

Here’s a photo taken with flash version of the dish so that
everything can be seen. The Red Ribbon Gala dinner literature describes
it as A Symphony of Gourmet Appetizers, by Jereme Leung from
Shanghai. It’s Poached Chicken with Chilled Soba Noodle Salad with Five
Spiced Shaved Ice, Chinese Tea Smoked Egg White, Apricot Smoked Salmon
topped with Sevruga Caviar Foie Gras Terrine with Garlic ‘mantou’,
Apple and Citrus Compote. The description made my head spin.

Shazlina from MAC who was sitting beside me, is a vegetarian, so she
got different dishes from us. Me and Chris tried to decipher just what
exactly her dish was but the results were inconclusive…All I know is
there’s asparagus in there.

This is the second course, by Sam Leong from Singapore. It’s Puree
of Yellow Pumpkin infused with Superior Chicken Consomme and Crabmeat.
The pairing wine is Jacob’s Creek Reserve Riesling 2003.

This is what the vegetarian version is…it tasted like tapai, but richer and sweet instead of sour.

The vegetarian version for this course is equally puzzling but it contains beetroot.

The next course is from Cheong Liew from The Grange of Adelaide,
Australia and is Medallion of Kampong Chicken, Lobster and Sweetbread
with Shitaki, Abalone Mushroom, Liver, Roast Garlic, Chicken Jus paired
with Jacob’s Creek Reserve Shiraz 2001. This was very, very good.

We went up for the RRMA award ceremony after that – I won the Main Award for Non-Traditional Media, and got…

A specially engraved huge pewter bowl (which we affectionately dub the
salad mixing bowl, but of course we’ll do nothing of that sort) from
Dr. Mahathir

A Certificate of Excellence from Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir which has my winning blog entry Guide to HIV testing in Malaysia [sixthseal.com] as well as her signature on it.

A check for RM 2,500 for being the main winner.

The Special Mention winners get the same thing as the Main Award
Winners, except their pewter is a plate and the check is RM 500. I
wished I got someone to take a photo of me standing up there, but the
MAC staff and all the winners were on stage so no one could.

The charity auction for the table displays happened after that and
most of the winners left, and I made my leave soon after that. I’m
still kicking myself for not staying till the end and getting a photo
with Dr. Mahathir and Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir.

I’ll like to thank Ely Azyze and all the MAC and MAF staff for this
honor and recognition. It was a great experience. My sincere thanks to
everyone who made this happen. Cheers!

This is the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. It’s located right in the middle of KL and is considered a 5 star hotel.

I was staying there courtesy of MAC (Malaysian AIDS Council – more
about that later) and when I arrived there, my gf’s brother told me not
to open the car door – someone will do it for me.

…and sure enough, someone did. It’s become something of an inside
joke since. ;) The reception was fairly opulent and the receptionist on
duty asked me if I wanted a queen or king sized room and told me it’s
all paid for by MAC.

Thus, I went for the queen sized room (MAC is a charity organization, non-profit).

The queen sized room was nice, with a welcome fruit basket (which I only ate the green apple, as I’m not a big fan of fruits).

The fruit array, with cutlery for the more refined ones amongst us to use.

The view is towards Suria KLCC…and you will notice some suspension
wires in the windows. Management left a note to apologize that they’ll
be doing some window cleaning the next day.

Bathrobes! Slippers! Why, I’ve never had these in my life. The luxury! ;)

The bathroom seems very nice.

There is a shower and a soak tub in there too. I found the porcelain throne to be very pleasant to sit on.

The toiletries are very complete – sewing kit, razors, toothbrush and I finally got to know what an enamel board is.

I was about to think of the questionable logic of providing toothbrushes but no toothpaste, until I found it inside.

This place makes me feel like saying, “Go away, I’m a very busy man!” ;)

Here’s a look at the mini bar – a select range of mini liquor bottles and Mandarin Oriental’s own bottled water.

Heck, they even had an agreement with Pringles to have Mandarin Oriental Pringles.

Mandarin Oriental is also linked to Suria KLCC, the shopping center beneath the tallest twin towers in the world…

…and the shopping opportunities it offers.

Mandarin Oriental is a nice place to stay in…if you don’t have to
pay for it, of course. ;) I’ll write about the Red Ribbon Gala next.

I am honored that MAC [mac.org.my] found my Guide to HIV Testing in Malaysia
[sixthseal.com] post noteworthy. I will be flying to KL tomorrow
(Saturday, 18th September) to attend the award ceremony and I will be
staying at the Mandarin Oriental before flying back to Kuching on
Monday (20th September), all courtesy of the Malaysian AIDS Council. I
will write a full report of the event when I get back. I’m truly
honored by this recognition. Cheers to MAC and Ely Azyze! :)